Siskoid's Rolodex #111 ... Siskoid ... [3/ 7/99 09:09]

[Siskoid's Rolodex offers spot reviews of all the cards judging them by their less tangible qualities, searching for the elusive perfect card: their picture/graphics, lore, Trek sense and stockability. Each on 5 points (so on a total of 20). Mondays, I do Premiere. Tuesdays, AU. Wednesdays, Q-Continuum. Thursdays, First Contact. Fridays, DS9. And Saturdays, Premium cards. Sundays, I back-end the Premiere set from the Zs. It's so darn big, I do it twice! (At this rate, I should be done sometime in the next 4 years.) Comments always welcome.]

Like I said last week, because I actually started out giving myself a vacation on Sundays, when you divide Sunday's Rolodex number by 7, you don't get an round number. And it's the little things that bug me. So until that is set aright, I'll be giving you two Rolodexes on Sunday. Here's today's second:

#111-Vash, Personnel, Federation
"Extraordinary archeology treasure hunter. Traveled with Q. Romantically involved with Captain Jean-Luc Picard. Lovable character, not to be trusted."
-CIVILIAN, Archeology x2, Treachery, Anthropology
-INTEGRITY: 3 CUNNING: 8, STRENGTH: 4

PICTURE: A splash of color in my Federation pile. The pinks and greens are welcome among the dull beiges that caracterize the rest of the affiliation. Nothimg else really going for it though. The headshot doesn't really touch on her personality or show any originality. An average 3.

LORE: The first line... can you say "archeology treasure hunter"? I'd stake my degree in English lit that you can't. The rest of the lore is in the usual telegraphic style of all the characters who have been in more than one episode. The last line is supposed to be a joke, but I've personally never found Vash "lovable". A mess... 1.4.

TREK SENSE: Not working for Starfleet, she's a Civilian. She might have been Science like Richard Galen, but I guess her lifestyle is closer to that of a CIV. Her profession is archeologist which gives her a double dose of Archeologu and the related skill, Anthropology. And her lack of ethics gives her a low Integrity and Treachery. I thought it was odd to place a pseudo-criminal in with the Federation at first, seeing as a lot of humans make it as Non-Aligneds. (Like, why is Nick Locarno and Jenice Manheim NA, and Vash, Federation?) I then was ready to accept her as a Federation citizen, but giving examples of other human civilians in this very paragraph has made me realize that the question remains largely unanswered. I think the problem lies in those other personnel though. A good showing: 3.9.

STOCKABILITY: The Feds have few Civilians and are always going to Non-Aligned for them. Vash isn't a bad choice as Archeology is featured on a number of Federation missions, Anthropology isn't common (hey, she passes Primitive Culture) and Treachery is rather rare among the Blues. But the Federation has more than a hundred personnel to choose from, not counting the NAs, and the competition is tough. With a profile more becoming of a Romulan, she doesn't have the most Federation-specific skills and attributes. A 2.7.

TOTAL: 11 (55%) The Fed with a Romulan profile doesn't quite make it over 60% mostly due to very poor lore.

COMPARISON CHART

Adapt: Negate Obstruction - 18.4 (92%)
[...]
Warp Core Breach - 11.3 (56.5%)
Anti-Time Anomaly - 11.1 (55.5%)
Brute Force - 11.1 (55.5%)
Yridian Shuttle - 11.1 (55.5%)
Activate Tractor Beam - 11 (55%)
Alien Parasites - 11 (55%)
Vash - 11 (55%)
Brain Drain - 10.9 (54.5%)
Altonian Brain Teaser - 10.7 (53.5%)
Abandon Mission - 10.6 (53%)
Colony - 10.6 (53%)
Adapt: Modulate Shields - 10.5 (52.5%)
Alien Labyrinth - 10.5 (52.5%)
Ancient Computer - 10.5 (52.5%)
[...]
Zibalian Transport - 7.1 (35.5%)

Siskoid (ah la vache)